Hello, Beautiful!

I can’t believe we’ve officially got the first week of 2018 under our belts! Happy New Year from me & the Blush+Bourbon Blog! I hope your year is off to an incredible start – may it be your best year yet! I know I’m going to do everything in my power to make darn sure that 2018 is my year.

If 2017 wasn’t exactly (or anywhere close to) what you wanted it to be – or even if you had the most beautiful year of your life – let’s start each day in this brand new year by reminding ourselves:

1. We. Are. Enough. 
2. This. Is. Our. Year!
   

 

If you’ve been following along with the blog and my Instagram, then you know that my 2017 had its ups and downs – to say the least! It’s really important to me to be as straightforward as possible on this blog, every chance I get, especially because it can be so easy to perceive pretty pictures on Instagram as someone’s reality. Pretty pictures aside, 2017 brought me both excruciating pain and sincerely held joy, the most heartbreaking of downs and the most wonderful ups. If I had to narrow it down to my biggest struggles of 2017, I believe they would be:

1. Battling with (sometimes irrational) fear, depression, and anxiety before and after my spine surgery in February 2017. 
2.  Encountering tons of financial difficulty, from our law school being shut down by the federal government shortly after we graduated to our car breaking down with a new problem like clockwork every month. 
3. Accepting that I may never understand some things, like when two of my very best friends – who stood beside me on my wedding day not so long ago and who I have loved more than anything for years – just weren’t interested in being my friend anymore. They officially stopped texting me back and started ignoring my calls, and ultimately stopped loving me despite how much I’ve loved for most of my life. 

I am so thankful for the joys we experienced this past year, too. As my mama always says, we can’t be afraid of each day’s purpose, each season in our lives: be it sorrow or joy. Joy prepares us for sorrow, and sorrow prepares us for joy. We will not live life all with one or the other, because God knows that whatever sorrow sweeps from our heart, room is being made for great joy to take place.

In 2018, let’s take our battles, our sorrows, our heartbreaks, and recognize them for what they are: the very leaves and rotten roots being shaken from the boughs of our hearts so that green leaves and new roots can grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place if you just believe in yourself and have faith.  Continue reading “My 2018 State of Mind”